The UK Government has responded to the technical consultation held last year on revisions to the “Building Regulations 2010,” outlining their final view on the legal framework for requiring real estate developers to ensure that newly constructed dwellings have support for faster broadband.

Currently, about 96% of newly constructed residences are being built with support for fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) cables, which is a significant increase from just over 60% in 2017. In contrast, around 70% of all UK properties may now connect to a gigabit-capable broadband network. This figure reflects both Full Fibre and Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC / Cable) line coverage.

As of 2017, all newly constructed structures (those that received approval after December 31, 2016) are required to have “a high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure, up to the network termination points”. However, it is still up to the developers and ISPs to choose whether to roll out a real service.

Network providers have already made it less expensive and simpler for developers to implement FTTP, including Virgin Media (VMO2), Gigaclear, Openreach (BT), Hyperoptic, OFNL, and others. The Government has also adopted a softer stance up until this point by urging councils to make sure that “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) is taken into account when approving local plans for new construction sites.

Despite this, some real estate developers continue to assert that setting up such broadband services can be too expensive, especially in isolated rural areas where there aren’t any nearby gigabit networks.

The government is also making every effort to assist and implement the £5 billion Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, which intends to provide gigabit-capable broadband ISP lines to at least 85% of UK residences by the end of 2025 and “nationwide” coverage (c.99%) by about 2030. Thus, the new regulations for network providers and property developers appear necessary to support this approach.

A closer look to the Legal Framework

The government announced its plans to establish a legal framework to implement its new housing connectivity strategy in a technical consultation at the end of last year. This would include modifying the Building Regulations of 2010. The final response to this has been made, however since building regulations are a devolved topic, only England will be affected by the revisions (whilst encouraging similar measures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

The main problem with all of this is that the introductory text makes numerous references to “gigabit” capable connections. When you examine the policy’s specifics, it is actually less restrictive and requires “at least a superfast broadband connection” (30Mbps+), before adding, “failing that, at least a Universal Service Obligation-standard” connection (10Mbps+).

Considering that the private sector is already doing a consistent job on this front, it is difficult to envision the new legislation having much of an influence at this point.

Additionally, the government has worked with internet ISPs and network operators in the past to obtain “significant new commitments” (i.e. They will financially support the provision of gigabit broadband in newly constructed homes).

The fact that some developments will inevitably fail to align to the policy, due to its phrasing, appears obvious. For instance, until better underlying infrastructure is available, some self-built residences will likely escape since the cost of connecting them to gigabit lines in remote rural locations just isn’t possible (dropping back to 10Mbps+ will handle this for the majority of such scenarios).

The costs, difficulties, and effects of establishing two sets of physical infrastructure to support a gigabit-capable connection and another type of next-best technology connection did concern several respondents, namely real estate developers.

According to the Government’s analysis, 1.7% of properties in new construction projects with 1 to 19 units had deployment costs over the £2,950 cutoff, which is the sum of the developer cost cap plus the estimated operator contribution. According to responders, within this 1.7%, it may be possible to provide the next-fastest technology connections utilising the infrastructure that is also able to meet the standards for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure.

The government also stated that it is feasible to use the “isolated area” exemption in cases when no link can be established within the cost cap, thereby negating the need for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure. The government suggested that secondary legislation would be used to make the modifications for all of this “as soon as Parliamentary time allows”.

Sources: Gov.co.uk, ISPreview.